


Pleasure Island Interlude

by HaloHalo



Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:55:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28891731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaloHalo/pseuds/HaloHalo
Summary: What happens when Ten is afraid of the dark.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun
Comments: 4
Kudos: 71





	Pleasure Island Interlude

Ten was having a hard time. He couldn’t sleep. From the sound of things, it was around 3 am. He could tell because his roommate was lightly snoring. Ten had stayed awake so many nights that he knew the rhythm of his roommate’s sleep. He envied it. 

Sleep never came easy to him. Nights like these weren’t uncommon. Sometimes he would listen to the rain pelting the roof of their cabin. Sometimes he could hear cicadas chirping or frogs croaking. Usually the night was full of the sounds of Pleasure Island. Right now he could only hear the sound of the air vibrating in his roommate’s throat.

Darkness scared him. Even when it was full of delights, such as those found across the island. He didn’t like to be alone in the dark. Though his bed was small, it still felt lonely. Just him and the wall at his back, a pillow, a blanket, and too many bad memories. 

During the day, he kept busy, avoiding the worries that often swarmed like mosquitoes at night. There was always something to practice, parts of his routine to perfect, a new aerial manoeuvre to learn, injuries to tend, such was the life of an acrobatic performer in the Pleasure Island Circus. 

At night, especially when things were quiet, he suffered from remembering all the mistakes he’d made and all the people who’d hurt him. He’d tried to get better at forgetting, found distraction on his knees for other boys. But the relief it gave him was fleeting. 

He was still dying of loneliness. 

There was one thing that could help him sleep. He only tried it when nights were especially tough. Tonight was one of those nights.

Ten peeled back his blanket, sat up, swung his legs over the side of the bed and stepped his feet into his slippers. He rose quickly and quietly, steeling himself against the darkness, as he moved through the room like water, gliding into the hallway, along the wall, to the room next door. He was careful opening the door. Two boys slept in bunks nearby. He sneaked past their beds, holding his breath, his footsteps light, and made his way to the far corner of the room. 

This wasn’t his first time coming into their room at night. If they saw him, they never said anything, not even in the morning when he was still there, a mysterious addition to the decor. When he reached the bed in the corner, he crouched down, tapping the boy’s shoulder, waiting for him to lift the covers, so he could slide into the bed. Ten let his slippers drop with two soft smacks before placing both feet alongside the boy’s legs. He curled himself into the space at his side, tucked beneath his arm, head resting on his chest. 

It was nothing sexual, just solace. He was simply seeking warmth, a safe place to lay his troubles down and sleep. They didn’t speak. This always happened in silence. And they never spoke about it afterwards. 

They’d both come to Pleasure Island as teenagers. Ten had been there a year already before Kun arrived. He was to apprentice with the circus’ master magician. At first, they didn’t share a language. So they communicated through gestures and a jumbled mix of words from various languages that they managed to string along. Quickly, they grew to understand each other, shared meals, took long walks together. Sometimes he even made Kun buy him treats, like coffee or shaved ice. 

Ten had swooned the moment he saw the new boy. Kun was just his type. Kind eyes, chubby face, sweet, pure voice, impeccable manners. At the circus, Ten was surrounded by boys, many of them beautiful. But this one stood out to him. Ten had never been in love, but this was the kind of boy he could fall for. If everything was different. If there was no circus, no Pleasure Island, and they were just two boys in the same neighbourhood. 

He gave himself to whatever boy he fancied, or whoever fancied him. But when it came to the one he really wanted, his courage disappeared. All he could do was tease and torment him, like a school kid with a first crush, and ache as his affection went unrequited. Though they were the same age, Kun looked after him, treated him tenderly. A rarity around Pleasure Island, where the game was manipulation, where everyone used everyone for their own enjoyment. Most boys came as orphans or were sold into employment by their parents. Kun didn’t belong here. He was different. He must have been loved.

Ten gazed at his face, like it was the moon in the night sky. His soft nose, plump lips, smooth skin were so close, mere centimetres away. But Ten had never dared to do anything more than look. This was his sanctuary, the boy who held him on afternoons when heavy rain clouds gathered and thunder echoed across the land, who took his hand when walking back from the circus in the dark, who opened his bed to him and embraced him all night long, so he wouldn’t be scared.

He watched as Kun’s eyelashes fluttered and two shiny eyes peeked at him, followed by a tiny smile. Kun lifted a hand to stroke his hair, but said nothing. Ten’s heart beat a rapid tempo in his chest. 

He had so many fantasies, of the perfect life he would have, the perfect guy he would meet, the perfect date they would go on, even their perfect wedding. He didn’t know if those fantasies would ever come true. They rarely did for boys from Pleasure Island.

Even if Kun didn’t want him, the ease he felt from sharing his bed, from sleeping in his arms, was good enough for now. Wasn’t it? 

Ten couldn’t tell whether it was Kun’s fingers in his hair or his own intense longing that made him drift a little closer. His gaze slipped from Kun’s eyes to his lips, lingering there, waiting for him to turn away. When he didn’t, Ten gathered a single grain of courage and closed his eyes. Tilting his face up, he grazed their lips together, gently, like he was afraid they would shatter, and with that, their entire friendship too. He pulled back, eyes snapping open, in fear that he’d gone too far. He couldn’t lose his safety in the dark. 

Kun smiled, a sleepy, affectionate smile. It was all the signal Ten needed to rush in for more. He kissed him again, hungrier this time. He didn’t dare unleash the full strength of his need. The years he’d punched down his feelings, all the hardships he’d faced, the memories he’d wanted to forget, dissipated in the moment. What was left was pure, white heat, lighting his body from within.

Kun let him take the affection he needed, kissing him back with a languorous ease, that made Ten want him even more. He wanted everything, whatever Kun would give him, he’d take it. Even if it was only this night. Ten didn’t know whether they would speak of it tomorrow. So for tonight he wanted to enjoy what he had, make new memories, savouring his touch and his scent and his taste. 

They kissed until there was no more room, no more cabin, no more circus, no more island. No more people to use him and toss him away. No more loneliness. 

His eyes began to feel heavy, but he didn’t want to stop, in case he never got this opportunity again. If he stopped, then dark days would come and other nights would fall, leaving him alone, listless, and afraid. He didn’t know how long he’d stay in this place, or how he’d ever get out, and have the life he wanted. But it helped to have the boy he wanted, even if it was only for one night. 

He whimpered when Kun finally pulled away, drawing a path of soft kisses from his lips to his ear. 

“Ten.” Kun’s voice was low and quiet. 

“Call me by my real name,” Ten whispered. No one else did. He’d given it up when he came to Pleasure Island and let himself be renamed, remade. But he would take it back if he ever left. And he wanted Kun to be able to find him.

“Chittaphon,” Kun said, in his faint mountain accent, “get some sleep. I’ll still be with you tomorrow.”


End file.
